One of France’s most celebrated film stars, Nathalie Baye, has died aged 77, French media report. President Emmanuel Macron said the much-loved stalwart of French cinema had been “an actress with whom we loved, dreamed and grew up”.
A four-time acting winner at the Césars – France’s equivalent of the Oscars – Baye starred in some 80 films in her lifetime after breakout roles in the early 1970s.
Her family told the French news agency AFP she had died at her home in Paris on Friday evening from a form of dementia.
Born into a bohemian family of artists in Normandy in 1948, she began her career as a dancer before turning to acting.
Baye got her break in François Truffaut’s 1973 comedy La Nuit Américaine, titled Day for Night in English – when she was fresh out of drama school, Le Monde reported.
She went on to become one of France’s most decorated actresses over a career spanning five decades.
She won her first César in 1981 for her supporting role in Jean-Luc Godard’s dark comedy Sauve qui peut (la vie), or Every Man for Himself.
She was again named best supporting actress in 1982 and best actress the following year for Une Étrange Affaire (Strange Affair) and La Balance.
Baye was named best actress at the 1999 Venice Film Festival for Une Liaison Pornographique, titled An Affair of Love in English.
Later in her career she appeared in high-profile international projects, such as Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film Catch Me if You Can, in which she played Leonardo DiCaprio’s mother. More recently, she played a parody of herself in the acclaimed series Call My Agent! alongside her daughter, actress Laura Smet, and a French aristocrat in the second Downton Abbey film.
Baye had Smet with rock artist Johnny Hallyday, nicknamed the French Elvis, with whom she had had a five-year relationship. In 2017, Hallyday’s death sparked national mourning.
Baye’s final on-screen role came in the 2023 Franco-Lebanese drama La nuit du verre d’eau (Mother Valley).
Away from acting, French media reported that Baye publicly supported action to tackle climate change and reform French assisted dying legislation. Among those paying tribute was one of Baye’s earliest co-stars – Isabelle Adjani, who appeared alongside her in 1974’s La Gifle (The Slap) and who called her an “actress of dazzling spontaneity” in a post on social media.
Richard Berry, who starred alongside her in La Balance in 1982, wrote on Instagram: “Nathalie, you take with you our laughter and the fond memories of our early days.”
Macron, meanwhile, wrote on X: “We loved Nathalie Baye so much. With her voice, her smile and her grace, she has been a constant presence in French cinema over the past few decades, from François Truffaut to Tonie Marshall.
“She was an actress with whom we loved, dreamed and grew up. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones.”
Culture Minister Catherine Pégard told AFP that Baye had “lit up a long chapter in the history of French cinema with her talent and radiant personality”.
Her family said she had died following a diagnosis of Lewy body dementia, a neurodegenerative disease, AFP reported.
By BBC News
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